Tag Archives: Alan Tudyk

The Chicago Indie Film Critics Honor Train Dreams and Sinners!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Chicago Indie Critics have announced their picks for the best of 2025!  The winners are listed in bold!

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You – Producers: Sara Murphy, Ryan Zacarias, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Eli Bush, Conor Hannon, Richie Doyle
It Was Just an Accident – Producers: Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin
The Life of Chuck – Producers: Trevor Macy, Mike Flanagan
Sorry, Baby – Producers: Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins
Train Dreams – Producers: Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer, Michael Heimler

BEST STUDIO FILM
Hamnet – Producers: Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Sam Mendes, Steven Spielberg
Marty Supreme – Producers: Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Anthony Katagas, Timothée Chalamet
One Battle After Another – Producers: Adam Somner, Sara Murphy, Paul Thomas Anderson
Sinners – Producers: Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Ryan Coogler
28 Years Later – Producers: Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernie Bellew, Danny Boyle, Alex Garland

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
It Was Just an Accident – Producers: Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin
No Other Choice – Producers: Park Chan-wook, Back Jisun, Michèle Ray-Gavras, Alexandre Gavras
The Secret Agent – Producers: Emilie Lesclaux, Kleber Mendonça Filho
Sentimental Value – Producers: Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
Sirât – Producers: Domingo Corral, Oliver Laxe, Xavi Font, Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar, Esther García, Oriol Maymó, Mani Mortazavi, Andrea Queralt

BEST DOCUMENTARY
John Candy: I Like Me – Producers: Colin Hanks, Johnny Pariseau, George Dewey, Shane Reid, Ryan Reynolds, Sean Stuart, Glen Zipper
Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 – Producers: Raoul Peck, Alex Gibney, George Chignell, Nick Shumaker
The Perfect Neighbor – Producers: Alisa Payne, Geeta Gandbhir, Nikon Kwantu, Sam Bisbee
Secret Mall Apartment – Producers: Jeremy Workman, Jesse Eisenberg
Zodiac Killer Project – Producers: Charlie Shackleton, Anthony Ing, Catherine Bray

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Elio – Producers: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina, Mary Alice Drumm
KPop Demon Hunters – Producers: Maggie Kang, Chris Applehans, Michelle Wong
Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up – Producers: Peter Browngardt, Sam Register, Alex Kirwan
Predator: Killer of Killers – Producers: John Davis, Dan Trachtenberg, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt
Zootopia 2 – Producers: Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident
Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eddington – Ari Aster
Marty Supreme – Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
Sinners – Ryan Coogler
Sorry, Baby – Eva Victor
Weapons – Zach Cregger

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Bugonia – Will Tracy
Frankenstein – Guillermo del Toro
Hamnet – Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell
One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson
28 Years Later – Alex Garland

BEST ACTOR
Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
Jesse Plemons – Bugonia

BEST ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee
Emma Stone – Bugonia
Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo – Sinners
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Odessa A’zion – Marty Supreme
Amy Madigan – Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
Hailee Steinfeld – Sinners
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

BEST ENSEMBLE (Casting Director Award)
Black Bag – Carmen Cuba
It Was Just an Accident – Jafar Panahi
Marty Supreme – Jennifer Venditti
One Battle After Another – Cassandra Kulukundis
Sinners – Francine Maisler

BREAKOUT PERFORMER
Odessa A’zion
Miles Caton
Indy the Dog
Chase Infiniti
Jacobi Jupe

BREAKOUT BEHIND-THE-SCENES
Clint Bentley
Harris Dickinson
Scarlett Johansson
James Sweeney
Eva Victor

SIGHT UNSEEN PERFORMANCE
Jason Bateman – Zootopia 2
Oona Chaplin – Avatar: Fire and Ash
Nick Offerman – The Life of Chuck
Will Patton – Train Dreams
Alan Tudyk – Superman

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
F1 – Claudio Miranda
Frankenstein – Dan Laustsen
One Battle After Another – Michael Bauman
Sinners – Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Train Dreams – Adolpho Veloso

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Fantastic Four: First Steps – Kasra Farahani, Jille Azis
Frankenstein – Tamara Deverell
Sinners – Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne
28 Years Later – Carson McColl, Gareth Pugh
Wicked: For Good – Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales

BEST EDITING
F1 – Stephen Mirrione
Marty Supreme – Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
One Battle After Another – Andy Jurgensen
Sinners – Michael P. Shawver
Weapons – Joe Murphy

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Fantastic Four: First Steps – Alexandra Byrne
Frankenstein – Kate Hawley
Hedda – Lindsay Pugh
Sinners – Ruth E. Carter
Wicked: For Good – Paul Tazewell

BEST MAKEUP
Frankenstein – Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey
Sinners – Mike Fontaine, Ken Diaz, Shunika Terry
The Smashing Machine – Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox, Mia Neal
28 Years Later – Flora Moody, John Nolan
Weapons – Leo Satkovich, Melizah Wheat, Jason Collins

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar: Fire and Ash – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett
F1 – Ryan Tudhope, Keith Alfred Dawson, Nicholas Chevallier, Robert Harrington
Frankenstein – Dennis Berardi
Sinners – Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean
Superman – Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stephane Naze, Guy Williams

BEST STUNTS
Ballerina – Jackson Spidell, Stephen Dunlevy
F1 – Gary Powell, Luciano Bacheta
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – Wade Eastwood
One Battle After Another – Brian Machleit
Superman – Wayne Dalglish

BEST SOUND
Avatar: Fire and Ash – Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Brent Burge, Gary Summers, Michael Hedges, Alexis Feodoroff, Julian Howarth
F1 – Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta, Gareth John
Sinners – Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco
28 Years Later – Johnnie Burn
Warfare – Mitch Low, Glenn Freemantle, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, Richard Spooner

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Frankenstein – Alexandre Desplat
Hamnet – Max Richter
Marty Supreme – Daniel Lopatin
One Battle After Another – Jonny Greenwood
Sinners – Ludwig Göransson

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Clothed by the Sun” – The Testament of Ann Lee (Written by Daniel Blumberg, Mona Fastvold; Performed by David Cale, Lewis Pullman, Matthew Beard)
“Golden” – KPop Demon Hunters (Written by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, IDO, 24, Teddy; Performed by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami)
“Highest 2 Lowest” – Highest 2 Lowest (Written and Performed by Aiyana-Lee)
“I Lied to You” – Sinners (Written by Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson; Performed by Miles Caton)
“Pale, Pale Moon” – Sinners (Written by Brittany Howard, Ludwig Göransson; Performed by Jayme Lawson)

THE IMPACT AWARD
Elizabeth Arnott – Programmer of “Sapphopalooza”
Tyler Michael Baletine – Programmer of “Life Within the Lens: Juneteenth Edition”
Matthew C. Hoffman – Programmer and Host at the Pickwick Theatre
Anna Pattinson – Editor-in-Chief of Cinema Femme
Michael Phillips – Former Film Critic of The Chicago Tribune

Here Are The 2025 Nominations of the Chicago Indie Film Critics

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Chicago Indie Critics have announced their nominations for the best of 2025!  And here they are:

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You – Producers: Sara Murphy, Ryan Zacarias, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Eli Bush, Conor Hannon, Richie Doyle
It Was Just an Accident – Producers: Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin
The Life of Chuck – Producers: Trevor Macy, Mike Flanagan
Sorry, Baby – Producers: Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins
Train Dreams – Producers: Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer, Michael Heimler

BEST STUDIO FILM
Hamnet – Producers: Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Sam Mendes, Steven Spielberg
Marty Supreme – Producers: Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Anthony Katagas, Timothée Chalamet
One Battle After Another – Producers: Adam Somner, Sara Murphy, Paul Thomas Anderson
Sinners – Producers: Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Ryan Coogler
28 Years Later – Producers: Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernie Bellew, Danny Boyle, Alex Garland

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
It Was Just an Accident – Producers: Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin
No Other Choice – Producers: Park Chan-wook, Back Jisun, Michèle Ray-Gavras, Alexandre Gavras
The Secret Agent – Producers: Emilie Lesclaux, Kleber Mendonça Filho
Sentimental Value – Producers: Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
Sirât – Producers: Domingo Corral, Oliver Laxe, Xavi Font, Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar, Esther García, Oriol Maymó, Mani Mortazavi, Andrea Queralt

BEST DOCUMENTARY
John Candy: I Like Me – Producers: Colin Hanks, Johnny Pariseau, George Dewey, Shane Reid, Ryan Reynolds, Sean Stuart, Glen Zipper
Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 – Producers: Raoul Peck, Alex Gibney, George Chignell, Nick Shumaker
The Perfect Neighbor – Producers: Alisa Payne, Geeta Gandbhir, Nikon Kwantu, Sam Bisbee
Secret Mall Apartment – Producers: Jeremy Workman, Jesse Eisenberg
Zodiac Killer Project – Producers: Charlie Shackleton, Anthony Ing, Catherine Bray

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Elio – Producers: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina, Mary Alice Drumm
KPop Demon Hunters – Producers: Maggie Kang, Chris Applehans, Michelle Wong
Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up – Producers: Peter Browngardt, Sam Register, Alex Kirwan
Predator: Killer of Killers – Producers: John Davis, Dan Trachtenberg, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt
Zootopia 2 – Producers: Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident
Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eddington – Ari Aster
Marty Supreme – Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
Sinners – Ryan Coogler
Sorry, Baby – Eva Victor
Weapons – Zach Cregger

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Bugonia – Will Tracy
Frankenstein – Guillermo del Toro
Hamnet – Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell
One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson
28 Years Later – Alex Garland

BEST ACTOR
Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
Jesse Plemons – Bugonia

BEST ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee
Emma Stone – Bugonia
Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo – Sinners
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Odessa A’zion – Marty Supreme
Amy Madigan – Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
Hailee Steinfeld – Sinners
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

BEST ENSEMBLE (Casting Director Award)
Black Bag – Carmen Cuba
It Was Just an Accident – Jafar Panahi
Marty Supreme – Jennifer Venditti
One Battle After Another – Cassandra Kulukundis
Sinners – Francine Maisler

BREAKOUT PERFORMER
Odessa A’zion
Miles Caton
Indy the Dog
Chase Infiniti
Jacobi Jupe

BREAKOUT BEHIND-THE-SCENES
Clint Bentley
Harris Dickinson
Scarlett Johansson
James Sweeney
Eva Victor

SIGHT UNSEEN PERFORMANCE
Jason Bateman – Zootopia 2
Oona Chaplin – Avatar: Fire and Ash
Nick Offerman – The Life of Chuck
Will Patton – Train Dreams
Alan Tudyk – Superman

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
F1 – Claudio Miranda
Frankenstein – Dan Laustsen
One Battle After Another – Michael Bauman
Sinners – Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Train Dreams – Adolpho Veloso

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Fantastic Four: First Steps – Kasra Farahani, Jille Azis
Frankenstein – Tamara Deverell
Sinners – Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne
28 Years Later – Carson McColl, Gareth Pugh
Wicked: For Good – Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales

BEST EDITING
F1 – Stephen Mirrione
Marty Supreme – Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
One Battle After Another – Andy Jurgensen
Sinners – Michael P. Shawver
Weapons – Joe Murphy

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Fantastic Four: First Steps – Alexandra Byrne
Frankenstein – Kate Hawley
Hedda – Lindsay Pugh
Sinners – Ruth E. Carter
Wicked: For Good – Paul Tazewell

BEST MAKEUP
Frankenstein – Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey
Sinners – Mike Fontaine, Ken Diaz, Shunika Terry
The Smashing Machine – Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox, Mia Neal
28 Years Later – Flora Moody, John Nolan
Weapons – Leo Satkovich, Melizah Wheat, Jason Collins

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar: Fire and Ash – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett
F1 – Ryan Tudhope, Keith Alfred Dawson, Nicholas Chevallier, Robert Harrington
Frankenstein – Dennis Berardi
Sinners – Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean
Superman – Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stephane Naze, Guy Williams

BEST STUNTS
Ballerina – Jackson Spidell, Stephen Dunlevy
F1 – Gary Powell, Luciano Bacheta
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – Wade Eastwood
One Battle After Another – Brian Machleit
Superman – Wayne Dalglish

BEST SOUND
Avatar: Fire and Ash – Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Brent Burge, Gary Summers, Michael Hedges, Alexis Feodoroff, Julian Howarth
F1 – Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta, Gareth John
Sinners – Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco
28 Years Later – Johnnie Burn
Warfare – Mitch Low, Glenn Freemantle, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, Richard Spooner

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Frankenstein – Alexandre Desplat
Hamnet – Max Richter
Marty Supreme – Daniel Lopatin
One Battle After Another – Jonny Greenwood
Sinners – Ludwig Göransson

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Clothed by the Sun” – The Testament of Ann Lee (Written by Daniel Blumberg, Mona Fastvold; Performed by David Cale, Lewis Pullman, Matthew Beard)
“Golden” – KPop Demon Hunters (Written by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, IDO, 24, Teddy; Performed by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami)
“Highest 2 Lowest” – Highest 2 Lowest (Written and Performed by Aiyana-Lee)
“I Lied to You” – Sinners (Written by Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson; Performed by Miles Caton)
“Pale, Pale Moon” – Sinners (Written by Brittany Howard, Ludwig Göransson; Performed by Jayme Lawson)

THE IMPACT AWARD
Elizabeth Arnott – Programmer of “Sapphopalooza”
Tyler Michael Baletine – Programmer of “Life Within the Lens: Juneteenth Edition”
Matthew C. Hoffman – Programmer and Host at the Pickwick Theatre
Anna Pattinson – Editor-in-Chief of Cinema Femme
Michael Phillips – Former Film Critic of The Chicago Tribune

Live Tweet Alert – #MondayMuggers present TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL (2010), starring Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Every Monday night at 9:00 Central Time, my wife Sierra and I host a “Live Movie Tweet” event on X using the hashtag #MondayMuggers. We rotate movie picks each week, and our tastes are quite different. Tonight, Monday, July 28th, we’ll be watching TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL (2020), starring Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss, Philip Granger, Brandon Jay McLaren, Chelan Simmons, Travis Nelson, Adam Beauchesne, and Eli Craig.

The plot: Two lovable hillbillies are headed to their “fixer-upper” vacation cabin to drink some beer, do some fishin’, and have a good time. But when they run into a group of preppy college kids who assume from their looks that they must be in-bred, chainsaw-wielding killers, Tucker & Dale’s vacation takes a bloody and hilarious turn for the worse.

Sierra and I have been on vacation over the last week, and we truly appreciate Lisa hosting for us while we were gone! Today, we’re both trying to get going again at work and in regular life, so I thought this horror-comedy, that I haven’t watched in many years, might be some easygoing fun! If it sounds fun to you, join us for #MondayMuggers and watch TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL. It’s on Amazon Prime! I’ve included the trailer below:

Trailer: Andor Season 2

Posted on by Arleigh

The revolution starts…now.

Star Wars fans have been very critical of Disney’s stewardship of the franchise since Star Wars: The Last Jedi landed with a monumental thud with the hardcore fanbase. There hasn’t been much to celebrate anything Star Wars under Disney with a few exceptions like Star Wars: Rogue One, The Mandalorian and Skeleton Crew. One Star Wars series that drew critical acclaim from fans and critics alike was Tony Gilroy’s series looking at the origins of one of the main characters from Rogue One and that would be the series Andor.

It was series that no one really wanted since it didn’t involve any of the legacy characters. Yet, under Tony Gilroy’s masterful hands it turned into one of the best shows on Disney+ and, if I daresay, one of the best on tv the year it came out.

It’s going to be almost three years since the first season premiered and, even though the long wait could’ve been a detriment, the second season has been one of the most-anticipated by Star Wars fans. Season 2 of Andor just got it’s first trailer it fetures a very non-Star Wars’y kind of music but very appropriate considering what the season will be about.

I, for one, never thought Steve Earle’s song of rebellion, “The Revolution Starts…” would be the clarion call to start the revolution.

Andor: Season 2 is set for an April 22, 2025 release.

Playing Catch-Up: Zootopia (dir by Byron Howard and Rich Moore)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

zootopia

Speaking of animated films…

I finally got a chance to watch Zootopia last night and oh my God, what a sweet and wonderful little film it turned out to be!

Zootopia is an animated film from Disney and it started out with a premise that sounds very Disney-like.  Zootopia takes place in a world where there are no humans.  Instead, animals walk and talk and scheme and plan and joke and dance and … well, basically, do everything that humans do.  Except they’re a lot cuter when they do it because they’re talking animals.

Judy Hopps (voiced by Gennifer Goodwin) is a rabbit who happens to be an incurable optimist.  (We should all try to be more like Judy.)  Even when she was growing up on the farm, Judy knew that she would someday move to the sprawling metropolis of Zootopia and become the first rabbit on the city’s police force.  When she finally does graduate from the police academy, Judy gets a lot of attention as a trailblazer.  But she quickly discovers that she’s only been hired to be a token, a political tool to help the city’s mayor, a blowhard of a lion named Lionheart (J.K. Simmons, voice the role that he was born to voice), win reelection.

See, Zootopia may look like a wonderful place to live but, as quickly becomes apparent, it’s a city in which the peace is very tenous.  Animals that are traditionally prey — like Judy and her fellow rabbits — may live with the predators but they certainly don’t trust them.  And the predators may not eat the prey but they certainly don’t respect them.  Underneath the cute face of every talking animal, there lies prejudice and resentment.  Lionheart is a predator who needs the votes of prey to remain in office.  What better way to win their trust then to make Judy Hopps a police officer?

Judy may be a member of the police force but that doesn’t mean that she’s going to be allowed to actually do anything.  While every other member of the force gets an exciting assignment, Judy is assigned to traffic duty.

However, an otter has recently vanished.  He’s just the latest of 14 predators to vanish in the city.  With the help of seemingly sympathetic deputy mayor, Judy gets herself assigned to the case.  But there’s a catch.  She has 48 hours to find the otter.  If she doesn’t find that otter, she’ll resign from the force and go back to the farm.

Luckily, Judy is not working alone.  She knows that the last animal known to have seen the otter is a fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman).  Nick’s a bit of a con artist and, as a predator, he wants nothing to do with Judy and she doesn’t quite trust him.  But, events — which I’m not going to spoil here — force them to work together and uncover the darkest secrets of life in Zootopia…

If Zootopia sounds cute, that’s because it is.  It’s perhaps one of the most adorable films that I’ve ever seen, full of wonderful animation and memorable characters.  But, at the same time, there’s a very serious theme running through Zootopia.  Zootopia is about more than just talking animals.  It’s a film about prejudice, racism, sexism, and intolerance.  It’s a film that invites us to not only laugh but also to reconsider the world around us.

Zootopia is currently on Netflix and, if you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it.  It’s great for children and adults.

The Indiana Film Journalists Honor Moonlight and Rebecca Hall!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

moonlight

The Indiana Film Journalists announced their picks for the best of 2016 on the 19th!  Along with picking Moonlight for best film, they also gave best actress to the destined-to-be-nominated-some-day Rebecca Hall for Christine!

Best Film
Winner: “Moonlight”
Runner-up: “Hell or High Water”
Other Finalists (listed alphabetically):
“American Honey”
“Arrival”
“Deadpool”
“Everybody Wants Some!!”
“La La Land”
“The Lobster”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Sing Street”

Best Animated Feature
Winner: “Kubo and the Two Strings”
Runner-Up: “Sausage Party”

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: “The Handmaiden”
Runner-Up: “A Man Called Ove”

Best Documentary
Winner: “O.J.: Made in America”
Runner-Up: “Weiner”

Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
Runner-up: Taylor Sheridan, “Hell or High Water”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
Runner-up: Eric Heisserer, “Arrival”

Best Director
Winner: Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
Runner-up: Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”

Best Actress
Winner: Rebecca Hall, “Christine”
Runner-up: Natalie Portman, “Jackie”

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Viola Davis, “Fences”
Runner-up: Naomie Harris, “Moonlight”

Best Actor
Winner: Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Runner-up: Ethan Hawke, “Born to Be Blue”

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Runner-up: Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water”

Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance
Winner: Alan Tudyk, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
Runner-up: Nick Kroll, “Sausage Party”

Best Ensemble Acting
Winner: “Everybody Wants Some!!”
Runner-up: “Don’t Think Twice”

Best Musical Score
Winner: Mica Levi, “Jackie”
Runner-up: Justin Hurwitz, “La La Land”

Breakout of the Year
Winner: Robert Eggers, “The Witch”
Runner-up: Sasha Lane, “American Honey”

Original Vision Award
Winner: “The Lobster”
Runner-up: “Sausage Party”

The Hoosier Award 
Winner: Andrew Cohn, “Night School”

No Ewoks, No Jar Jar: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016, directed by Gareth Edwards)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

rogue_one_a_star_wars_story_posterA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

The evil Galactic Empire spent what had to be billions of Imperial credits to build the greatest weapon in the universe.  It was known as the Death Star and it housed a laser so powerful that it could blow up a planet with just one shot.  And yet, for all the effort and all the years that were spent building it, the Death Star had one glaring vulnerability, an exposed exhaust valve that the Rebel Alliance twice used to the destroy it.

For years, fanboys debated why the Empire would go to the trouble to build a super weapon with such an obvious design flaw.  I have to admit that I was often one of them.  No one else seemed to care but, to us, this was a huge deal.  If the Empire could figure out how to blow up a planet with one super laser, why couldn’t they figure out how to protect that one valve?

Now, thanks to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we have an answer.  We not only know why that valve was there but we also know what was meant in New Hope when the rebel general said that the plans to the Death Star had been stolen at great cost.

Rogue One is a fan’s dream, one that answers questions while expanding on the Star Wars mythology.  Unlike the previous prequels, it adds to the story without cheapening the original films.  In fact, of all the Star Wars films, Rogue One is the first to make the Death Star into a believable weapon of mass destruction.  When it appears over one planet, it blots out the sun.  When it blows up a rebel base, we see the destruction from inside the base instead of observing it from the safety of Death Star.  Director Gareth Evans does for the Death Star what he previously did for Godzilla.

death-star

Unfortunately, like Godzilla, the action and the special effects in Rogue One are usually more interesting than any of the film’s characters.  Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Alan Tudyk, and Riz Ahmed are all good actors but they’re all playing underwritten parts.  No one steps up like Harrison Ford did in the original trilogy.  Commander Kennec, played by Ben Mendelsohn, has a little more depth than the typical Imperial villain but, for better or worse, the film’s most memorable performances come from a CGI Peter Cushing and James Earl Jones providing the voice of Darth Vader.

rogue-one

Despite the underwritten characters, Rogue One is still the best Star Wars film since Empire Strikes Back, a return to the grittiness, the thrilling action, and the awe of discovering new worlds that distinguished the first two movies.  For once, a Star Wars film seems to have more on its mind than just selling toys.  Though we already know what is ultimately going to happen to the Death Star at the end of New Hope, Rogue One is a frequently downbeat film.  There are no Ewoks and, to great relief and rejoicing, Jar Jar is never seen.  The closest that Rogue One gets to comic relief is Alan Tudyk providing the voice of a cynical robot.  The emphasis is on the horrors of war and even the rebels are troubled by some of the things that they have done.  For once, the Rebel Alliance actually feels like a rebellion and the evil of the Empire feels real instead of cartoonish.

Rogue One is projected to be the first of many “Star Wars stories,” stand-alone film that will expand the universe and hopefully clarify some of the points that were left unclear by the original trilogy.  I think it’s going to be very successful very Disney.  I’m just dreading the inevitable Jar Jar origin story.

 

Film Review: Moana (dir by Ron Clements and John Musker)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Look, I get it.

Everyone’s depressed right now.

You’re depressed.

He’s depressed.

She’s depressed.

That random guy over there is depressed.

Your cat’s depressed because you’re so depressed that you’re probably not feeding him on time.

I’m not depressed but I’m currently pretending that I am in order to show solidarity for the people.

Everyone’s depressed!

But you know what?  No matter how depressed you are, don’t take it out on the movies.  I actually had someone tell me recently that he didn’t see how I could worry about movies with so many terrible things happening in the world!  Well, listen up — the world may be a terrible movie but movies help to make it a lot more bearable.

For instance, there’s Moana.  Moana is the latest Disney film and it is a burst of pure joy, a wonderfully entertaining animated adventure that also carries with it an important, timely, and welcome message of empowerment.  Some day, when I have a daughter, Moana is one of the many films that I look forward to watching with her.  We’ll watch Moana and then we’ll watch Brave.  And then we’ll close things out with Frozen.  I can’t wait!

moana

Now, I’ll be honest.  The film’s plot, in many ways, sounds like almost every other Disney princess film.  Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho) is the headstrong daughter of the chief of a Polynesian tribe.  Moana dreams of sailing to the ends of the Earth but her loving but protective father refuses to allow her to go beyond the reef.  However, when a force of darkness threatens to consume the island that Moana calls home, she defies her father and sets sail with her pet rooster.  The only way to stop the darkness is to track down a demigod named Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and go with him to return a sacred stone to Te Fiti, the island Goddess.  (The stone is Te Fiti’s heart.)

Now, that may all sound like typical Disney fare but the brilliant thing about Moana is that it realizes that the plot sounds like typical Disney fare.  When Moana finds Maui, he asks her where he animal sidekick is because all princesses travel with an animal sidekick.  Moana argues that she’s not a princess but then realizes that, as the chief’s daughter, she kind of is.  Moano is full of self-referential humor, the type that tells the audience that we’re all in this together.

Maui himself is a brilliantly animated, written, and voiced parody of the type of muscle-bound character who, in the past, would have automatically been this film’s main character.  Dwayne Johnson has always been willing to have fun with his persona and he continues to do that with Maui.  For that matter, Heihei the Rooster also pokes fun at the typical Disney animal sidekick.  As opposed to the usual all-knowing, often snarky sidekick that we’ve come to expect from Disney, Heihei spends most of his time searching for something to eat.  It doesn’t matter if it’s edible or not.  He’ll eat it.  As a result, Heihei doesn’t really do much to help Moana on her journey but he’s still adorable.

But ultimately, this film is all about Moana and what a wonderful character she is!  Strong, independent, intelligent, and occasionally just a little unsure of herself, Moana is perhaps the most 3-dimensional Disney character since Brave‘s Merida.  It’s her character (and  Auli’i Cravalho’s voicework) that brings the film its humanity and makes it a truly special viewing experience.

Moana is wonderfully animated and if you don’t fall in love with the coconut pirates then there is no hope for you.  (Is this film worth seeing in 3D?  I would say that it is.)  The insanely catchy songs are provided by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Opetaia Foa’i and I’m looking forward to the inevitable Broadway adaptation.

So, seriously — stop feeling sorry for yourself for two hours and go see Moana!  You’ll be glad you did.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Official Trailer Finally Arrives

Posted on by Arleigh

Rogue One

The Rogue One official trailer finally came out after weeks of fans waiting for it since last month’s Star Wars celebration over in London.

At first, people thought the trailer would be released during the celebration, but that didn’t come to pass. Then San Diego Comic-Con came and went and still no official trailer. We already seen the teaser, the sizzle reel from London celebration and even a tv spot that aired in the last week or so. Yet, there was still no full trailer. Fans were waiting with extreme patience.

Once news came down that the first official trailer will show during the Olympics the guessing game began on which day it will be. When it was confirmed that it was to be tonight people worldwide began to wait for the trailer to premiere. And waited during each Olympic event. And waited some more. I, myself, decided I needed a nap and left orders to be awoken when it finally did show.

Well, it did show just an hour into my nap and despite being groggy from being woken up that first image of the desert planet with Forest Whitaker and Felicity Jones conversing got my full attention. The wait was long, but it was well worth it and now the wait for the film’s premiere begins.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set for a December 16, 2016 release date.

Disney’s First Official Teaser Trailer for Moana

Posted on by Arleigh

Moana

Since 2012’s surprise hit Wreck-It Ralph, Walt Disney Animation Studio (you know the other one that’s not named Pixar) has been on quite a winning streak. With each new film this animation studio cranks out it’s building a portfolio of critically-acclaimed animated films that’s also huge hits with the audience. This year, the studio released Zootopia which seems to have surprised many with it’s staying power.

This Thanksgiving we’ll see the second feature-length film from this studio with the fantasy adventure Moana.

A story set in ancient Oceania and about a young girl with the natural born gift of being a navigator who goes on a quest to find a fabled island with the help of Maui, her favorite hero who also happens to be a demigod (voiced by Dwayne Johnson, who is as close to a real-life demigod).

Moana is set for a November 23, 2016 release date. Just in time for Thanksgiving.